Kuhnhenn Raspberry Eisbock

Pours a hazy raspberry color with a light brown head. Aroma is of raspberries, chocolate, and aged malts. Flavor is of lots of nice raspberries, chocolate, aged malts, and a slight bitter finish. Has a slight warming from the alcohol.

Recent December bottling of 2004 batch. Received in a trade with Walleye - thanks, Jim! Pours a viscous and syrupy dark brown with tinges of red when the light hits the glass right. No head or carbonation to speak of and it really reminds me more of an aged brandy than a beer. Impressive, though. Smells of brandy-soaked raspberries and chocolate with a hint of carmelized sugar. Thick and syrupy on the tongue - this is a beer that slides rather than washes down. Tastes like it smells, but not over the top on the raspberries. Very balanced and not hot with alcohol. My first thought is how amazing this eisbock would taste drizzled over pancakes. Its sweet molasses, chocolate and fruit flavors would be a show-stopper. Overall, a very unique, well-crafted and tasty dessert beer/apertif. Glad I have an additional bottle to stash and see how the flavors change in time. My first Kuhnhenn Bros. beer, but far from my last.

Extra special thanks to Heemer77 for this one. He held on to this for me for over a year, all the while fighting off millions of offers for trade. 2004 bottling. It pours a dark brownish red w/o even the smallest bit of head. Nose is loaded w/ cocoa and a good dose of the raspberry--actually, it reminds me of a chocolate covered cherry more than anything. Flavor provides more of the same along w/ some sweetness and a darkish malt character. Carbonation is a little too brisk and implies a certain thinness of body to me. Finishes w/ just a tiny touch of bitterness. This is definitely a very special beer--very unique w/ a certain kind of deliciousness that you don’t see often.

Sampled thanks to BigErn. Pours a cloudy/murky brown with a maroon tint to it. Plenty of sediment floating in the beer. Smell is raspberry(of course) with some chocolate(tootsie roll) as well. Taste is pure raspberry puree with a hit of tootsie roll in the finish. Not being a big fan of tootsie rolls, I love good chocolate, but don’t classify tootsie roll as such. This beer would be "all world" with either a different chocolate used or with simply no chocolate at all. The mouthfeel and beginning taste is absolutely delightful. Maybe with aging the chocolate will subside some.

Sampled at the O-Down Throwdown thanks to "ibrew2or3." Pours a dark brown with virtually no head. Aroma has hints of chocolate, caramel and berries. Flavor is smooth with a tartiness when you taste the berries, chocolate and caramel. Very well balanced and a excellent beer for after dinner.

Vintage 2004. Very hazy, muddy warm brown coloured beers with almost no head. The concistency is thick and oily. Aroma is dominated by liquid butter caramel, whipped up doubble cream with a dash dark rhum, cookies, caramelized sugars on top of a fruitcake and rich touches of milk chocolate with a fruity-caramel filling. The taste is exposing or should i say revealing the wonderful kick of sour red berries with an elegance that counters well the richeness of the sweet caramelly caracter of the beer. It is incredible how the fruity part can come out so crisp and pure out of a beer that is so rich, sticky and caramel sweet. This is indeed a very original beer that melts two different sensations in a very good way.

2004 - abject thanks to lachesis for sharing this one!! Fully hazy brown chocolate coloure; virtually no perceptible head. Buttertoffees, exploding out of the glass; caramel bar with running filling, seemingly ready to go creeping out of the glass. Very little fruitiness. Again the same running caramel toffee in the taste, but this time with some (obviously sourish) fruit. Difficult to say whether raspberry or other red fruit. Raisins and apples in rhum for a dessert. Retronasal, I’ve got not-quite-bitter black chocolate and more near-tart fruit. Very well-bodied, nearly fully viscous. Kaiserschmarrel’n, Tarte Tatin,... dessert top-beer anyway.

2004 bottle obtained via trade with Demitriustown. Dark cloudy brown with red highlights and a quickly fading beige head. Malted milk balls, brown sugar, nice non-artificial raspberry, light cocoa and light oxidation in the nose. Flavor has notes of ovaltine, fresh caramel, moderate raspberry, molasses, mocha, sherry and dark fruit. Pleasantly sweet and balanced with just the perfect amount of hops for this kind of beer; very subtle, showcasing the malt. Alcohol content is very, very smooth and warming on the back end. Medium bodied and lush with a velvety, perfect fine-beaded carbonation, just lovely. The ultimate dessert beer.